Enhancement of pyramid solar still productivity using absorber plates made of carbon fiber/CNT-modified epoxy composites

This work aims to augment the distilled water productivity of a modified pyramid solar still using absorber plates made of carbon fiber/nanomaterials-modified epoxy composites. The effect of using basin absorber plates made of carbon fiber/epoxy incorporating carbon nanotubes or graphene nanoplatelets on the fresh water productivity was investigated experimentally under Jordanian climatic conditions. In this study, four similar solar stills with basin absorber plates of 0.5 m2 and a pyramid glass cover have been designed and constructed by local materials. Three absorber plates were manufactured from carbon fiber/epoxy composites incorporating 2.5 wt%, 5 wt% carbon nanotubes and 2.5 wt% graphene nanoplatelets in the epoxy matrix. Experimental results showed that adding 5 wt% and 2.5 wt% carbon nanotubes to the epoxy matrix in the carbon fiber/epoxy composites caused 109% and 65% increase in the amount of distilled water, respectively, when compared with the ordinary type absorber plate (black painted galvanized steel). On the other hand, the performance evaluation indicated that the amount of distilled water was increased by 30% when incorporating graphene nanoplatelets in the epoxy matrix.